Bad European car sales are about to get worse. French September car registrations dropped 18 percent year-on-year, while Spain’s plunged 37 percent, Reuters reports.

The Spanish number is especially bad because the sales tax was raised in September, which brought sales to August. A new cash-for-clunkers program was introduced today, which made buyers delay their purchases.

January through August, European car sales were down 7.1 percent, but market observers expect the European market to accelerate this downward trend. Severe discounting kept volume halfway alive through the preceding months. With inventories and discounts dwindling, car sales are expected to drop in earnest.

2 Comments on “With Discounts Waning, European Car Sales Crash...”

The global economic collapse is gathering steam. The signs are everywhere; for instance, new export orders in China have hit a 42-month low.

The social consequences are showing up everywhere too. For instance, separatists in two regions in Spain (25% unemployment, and rising) are making noises about breaking away to form sovereign nations, and one of their goals is to shrug off Spain’s unsupportable debts.

IMO, the important point here is that we have two forces at work. First is the popping of the debt bubble. Second, and less often discussed, is an already-esclating societal upheaval which will include strife and violence. That’s not good for jobs, paychecks, or car sales… and we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.